Cao Zhen

Service under Cao Cao

According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Zhen was a distant nephew of Cao Cao. In 190, when Cao Cao was raising an army to join the coalition against Dong Zhuo, the tyrannical warlord who held Emperor Xian hostage, Cao Zhen's father, Cao Shao (曹邵), heeded the call but was killed before he could join Cao Cao. The Weilue by Yu Huan, however, says Cao Zhen was originally surnamed Qin (秦). Cao Zhen's father, Qin Bonan, had long been friends with Cao Cao. In 195, as Cao Cao was fleeing from rebels, he hid with the Qins. When rebels asked for the whereabouts of Cao Cao, whom they did not recognise by face, Qin Bonan claimed to be the man and was slain.

Either way, Cao Cao took in the young Cao Zhen, whom he raised as his own son. He had Cao Zhen residing with his son Cao Pi and another distant nephew, Cao Xiu. The three of them would travel with five of the Seven Scholars of Jian'an, including Wu Zhi, Liu Zhen (劉楨), Xu Gan (徐幹), Ying Yang (應瑒) and Chen Lin from time to time. Due to his chubby shape, he was often ridiculed by his friends, especially by Wu Zhi. Unfortunately for him, Cao Zhen's distant uncle, Cao Hong, was also a compulsive prankster who never failed to "show concern" on his nephew's size problem. As Cao Zhen did not have power at the time, he could only bear a furtive displeasure against jokes revolving around his weight, but his muffled wrath would keep accumulate to a point where it nearly broke out into a duel between him and Wu Zhi years later (see Appraisal section below). Probably he had had enough from his influential "friends", Cao Zhen remained most intimate with people like his clansman Cao Zun (曹遵) and general Zhu Zan (朱贊).

Ironically, he was specifically ordered to serve as a captain in the highly mobile Tiger and Leopard Cavalry (虎豹騎), despite his health problems. Henceforth, Cao Zhen followed Cao Cao in a series of battles without noted accomplishments until the war with southwestern warlord, Liu Bei. In 219, during the struggle for Hanzhong, the western commander of Cao Cao, Xiahou Yuan, was defeated and killed in the Battle of Mount Dingjun, Cao Zhen was charged with overseeing the retake of Yangping Pass by forces led by Xu Huang. He commissioned his subordinate to defeat Gao Xiang in their task, but Liu's forces occupied nearly all strategic positions and refused engagement. Facing logistical difficulty, Cao Cao personally led a force to pull Zhang He out from encirclement, and Cao Zhen was sent to escort Cao Hong from Wudu. After Cao Zhen had merged his force with that of Cao Hong's, they retreated to Chencang, where Cao Zhen stationed his troops to prevent possible attack from Shu.

Failure against Sun Quan

After Cao Pi succeeded Cao Cao in 220, Cao Zhen was appointed General who Guards the West (鎮西將軍) and tasked with the defence of Yong and Liang provinces. When he was recalled to the capital Luoyang in 222, he was promoted to Senior General of the Upper Army (上軍大將軍) and given command of all domestic and foreign military affairs. In the same year, Cao Pi launched his three-pronged attack on the eastern warlord, Sun Quan. Cao Zhen, together with Zhang He, Xu Huang and Xiahou Shang, was ordered to lay siege upon Jiangling fortress, which was guarded by Zhu Ran and his 5,000 soldiers. Although they had defeated some enemy relief forces and taken some enemy camps, Zhu Ran had been playing a staunch defence and destroyed most of Cao Zhen's siege engines. The war turned out to be a prolonged one, resulting in an epidemic outbreak, which plagued both belligerents, and the invaders became demoralised and dissipated. One night, Zhu Ran sneaked out and raided some enemy camps, hampering the besiegers' fighting spirit further. As the other two prongs failed, Cao Zhen also led the army back to Wei territory. As a result of the failure, Cao Zhen was demoted to Senior General of the Central Army (中軍大將軍).

Successes over Zhuge Liang

In 227, Cao Rui succeeded his father as the Wei emperor and he promoted Cao Zhen to General-in-Chief (大將軍). Believing the young Cao Rui was inexperienced, Zhuge Liang, the chancellor-regent of Wei's rival state Shu Han, launched the first of his Northern Expeditions against Wei shortly after Cao Pi's death. Three commanderies of the distant Longyou soon defected to the Shu side; thus, Cao Zhen hurriedly led his troops to Mei (郿), near Chang'an and Chencang, for fear that Zhuge Liang would attack either city. However, the enemy attacked the garrison atop Mount Qi. An enemy force commanded by Zhao Yun appeared at Qi Trail, hindering Cao Zhen from reinforcing Mount Qi, where Zhuge Liang personally laid a siege. With better trained soldiers, Cao Zhen defeated Zhao Yun, who was only given weaker troops by Zhuge Liang, forcing Zhao Yun to retreat, but gave up pursuit on the latter. Cao Zhen then ordered Zhang He to locate and cut off Zhuge Liang's supply lines. At the time, Zhang He had completed his mission, while Zhuge Liang was still struggling to take over Mount Qi, which was actually not heavily guarded. When Zhuge Liang got wind of what happened, he gave up the expedition and forced 1,000 households to relocate to the Shu-controlled Hanzhong Commandery.

Observing Zhuge Liang's failure at Mount Qi, Cao Zhen had deduced the former would attack Chencang next time, so he ordered Hao Zhao and Wang Sheng to fortify that city. Cao Zhen's prediction was accurate, but he did not expect that Zhuge Liang would launch another large scale assault just one year later. At the time, Hao Zhao only had 1,000 soldiers under command, while Zhuge Liang had brought 100,000 men and a range of siege weapons and projectiles to the battlefield. Nevertheless, Hao Zhao managed to destroy most of the enemy's siege weapons and forced the invaders to turn back. Cao Zhen received an increase on salary due to his prior advice. For the next few years, Cao Zhen successfully fended off every invasion from Zhuge Liang.

Death

In 230, Cao Zhen headed for Luoyang for an audience with the emperor Cao Rui, during which he was appointed as Grand Marshal (大司馬). He then proposed a shift from a defensive to an offensive stance, with a multi-pronged attack on Hanzhong Commandery, the primary base of Zhuge Liang's intrusions. His proposal was accepted and in the same year, Cao Zhen led a force towards Hanzhong Commandery taking a route south of the Ziwu Trail, while Sima Yi led another force west along the Han River. The two forces were slated to converge at Nanzheng (南鄭), southwest of Hanzhong Commandery. However, the plan was thwarted by heavy rainfall, which lasted for more than a month and rendered the mountainous paths muddy, interfering the military advance.

Cao Zhen fell sick on his journey back to Luoyang, where he died a year later. He was given the posthumous title "Marquis Yuan" (元侯). His son, Cao Shuang, later became the regent of Wei and monopolised power in the Wei central government until the Incident at Gaoping Tombs.

Appraisal

Despite his obesity, Cao Zhen was well known for his archery. The Records of the Three Kingdoms recorded a hunting trip during which the young Cao Zhen was chased by a tiger. Turning around, he fired an arrow and felled the beast with one shot. He was also respected among his subjects and troops for his humility and generosity. During the excursions, Cao Zhen would share the labour of his men. When the treasury ran short of the wages due, he would make it up with his own wealth.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Zhen made a late appearance in chapter 84, where he accompanied Cao Pi on a campaign against Eastern Wu.

Cao Zhen's importance begins to rise in Chapter 91 as Zhuge Liang launches his Northern Expeditions against Wei. However, his contributions in the series of battles and maneuvers for the next eight chapters were largely played down by the author Luo Guanzhong in an effort to accentuate the resourcefulness of Sima Yi. Luo Guanzhong even attributed Cao Zhen's death to his failure to heed Sima Yi's forewarning of a Shu offensive.

In Chapter 100, Sima Yi warned that Shu troops would come within ten days for Mount Qi, a strategic point which would allow further incursions into the Wei heartland, but Cao Zhen did not believe his words. The two then held a bet. Each leading a half of the army, they guarded the valleys to the east and west of the mountain.

Cao Zhen was only half-hearted in preparing for an assault. Seven days later, however, scouts spotted a small number of Shu soldiers approaching the valley. Cao Zhen then sent his aide Qin Liang (秦良) with 5,000 troops to survey the situation. As Qin Liang was drawn deeper into the valley, his force was ambushed and eradicated by a Shu force under Liao Hua and Guan Xing. Disguising themselves in the clothing and armor of the Wei soldiers, Zhuge Liang's men then infiltrated the enemy's camp.

Meanwhile, Sima Yi had encountered and defeated a subdivision of the Shu force under Wei Yan but reports from Cao Zhen claimed that no enemies were sighted on the other side. Fearing for the worse, Sima Yi drew a force and came for Cao Zhen's camp. True enough, the Shu troops and the infiltrators had launched a surprise attack, seizing Cao Zhen's men. Sima Yi arrived in time to ward off the attack, but Cao Zhen felt so insulted by the defeat that he fell ill.

Zhuge Liang then wrote Cao Zhen a letter full of insulting remarks, upon reading which the latter was so filled with rage that he died that very night in camp. Sima Yi then had Cao Zhen's body sent back to the capital Luoyang for burial.